Many commercial airlines in the United States presently allow young children (e.g. children of less than two years of age) to fly free of charge, or for reduced fares, provided that they remain seated on the lap of an adult traveling companion during flight. The reasoning which underlies such policy is that a child who remains seated on the lap of an adult travel companion does not occupy a separate passenger seat and, thus, may be afforded a fare reduction or fare waiver without substantial monetary loss to the airline. Such policy is believed to encourage air travel by young families or individuals having small children who, in many cases, would be unable to afford the cost of such travel if it were necessary for them to purchase a separate seat for each small child.
While the above-stated policy may well promote desirable economic and business concerns, such policy is highly undesirable from a standpoint of child safety. On most, if not all, commercial airliners, a child seated on the lap of an adult travel companion is left without any safety restraint. As a result, sudden turbulence, movement, rapid positional change, or impact of the aircraft may thrust or inertially propel the child from its position on the lap of the adult and about the cabin of the aircraft, possibly resulting in severe injury and/or death to the child.
Standard emergency landing/pre-crash procedures adopted by many airlines call for the adult travel companion to firmly grasp and hold the child upon the adult's lap during a crash or emergency landing. While such practice may prevent injury to the child during minor decelerations or turbulent conditions, it is believed that such procedure is wholly inadequate to safely restrain and hold the child during an actual crash, rapid positional change, or rapid deceleration.
In view of the above-stated shortcomings of the prior art, there exists a need for a child restraint apparatus which is operative to securely hold a child on the lap of an adult travel companion seated in a moving vehicle, such as a commercial airliner.